Writing A Grant—From
Start To Finish
Workshop 5:
Submitting Your Proposal—And
Beyond!
Educational Resource Development
LCC Foundation
November 10, 2015
Last week we discussed:

Documenting grant proposal work
• Running effective meetings
•
Working with collaborative partners
•
Evaluating your grant preparation
process
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
This week we’ll discuss:
Preparing to submit a grant application
package:
• Prepare a proposal for submission
• Plan to implement the project if funded
After you’ve submitted an application
package:
• Follow up with potential funders
• Discuss LCC and LCC Foundation process
when a grant is funded
• Prepare grant reports
• Build and maintain relationships with funders
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Personal Refection
What were you able to work on
last week (research, writing,
collaborating, etc.)?
What did you learn?
If you were to continue
working on this, what next
steps would you take?
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Preparing to Submit the Application
Check all application requirements carefully—sections,
table of contents, sequence, space or page limits,
headers/footers, page numbers:
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Cover page
Abstract
Project Narrative
Budget
Budget Narrative
Letters of Support/Commitment
Organizational Chart
Resumes/Vitae
Other Requirements
Submitting Your Proposal– And Beyond!
Preparing the Cover Letter
Cover letters are generally submitted with a
foundation or corporate grant request. They
provide a brief (1 page) synopsis of:
• ¶ 1. Applicant name, project name, which grant
you’re applying for project name, project
goal (sometimes $ amount requested)
• ¶ 2. Overview or project highlights
• ¶ 3. Project partners—internal and
external—and their roles
• ¶ 4. Thanks for considering us; contact person.
Submitting Your Proposal– And Beyond!
Preparing the Abstract
Abstracts are generally required in a federal grant
request, included as a separate document in the
package. They provide a brief (typically 1 page)
summary of the project, generally in fairly
academic language. In addition:
• They will require information that is specifically
laid out in the RFP.
• They sometimes have format requirements.
• They sometimes they count towards the application
page limit; sometimes not.
Submitting Your Proposal– And Beyond!
Online Submission Package Examples:
Capital Region Community Foundation
http://www.crcfoundation.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/2015%20Grant%20
Application%20NEW.pdf
Michigan Humanities Council
http://www.michiganhumanities.org/
Kellogg Foundation
https://wrm.wkkf.org/uWebRequestManager/UI/Application.aspx?tid=7
0d03543-2f25-44ff-bbc0-024f3fb5aa09&LanguageID=0
grants.gov
http://www.grants.gov/searchgrants.html?agencies%3DDOL|Department%20of%20Labor
LCC Heart of Student Success:
O:\Exec-Public\Provost-Office-Public\Heart of Student Success GrantPublic\2015 Heart of Student Success
Submitting Your Proposal– And Beyond!
Submitting the Application
ERD Process
• Need LCC review and approval to submit
•
ERD circulates entire package for review and
approval at least a week before the due date
•
ERD finalizes and submits the grant package
LCC Foundation Process
• Dean knows but no institutional approval needed
•
No commitment of college resources
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Follow Up With Potential Funders (1):
Foundation and Corporate Funders
Some funders post their grant decision timeline on their
website. If you can't locate this information online,
many funders will respond to an e-mail or call about an
application's status.
However, plan to wait at least three months after
submitting an application to contact them. Many boards
of directors don’t meet monthly or may not have time
to review applications at a regular meeting.
Beverly A. Browning, Grand Writing For Dummies, 5th edition
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Follow Up With Potential Funders (2):
Federal Agencies
Agencies follow-up by acknowledging receipt of the
proposal and confirming on-time submission.
Government departments discourage, and
sometimes prohibit, contact with staff during the
review process.
Even though applicants cannot communicate with
federal staff during review, they can contact their
legislators to keep them apprised of the
application.
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
If Grant Is Awarded:
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
LCC Grant Award Process

Complete paperwork—acceptance forms and contracts;
federal/state grants need to go through an approval
process
• Touch base with Center for Data Science if they will be
involved in the project

Hold award start-up meeting

Hold periodic grant expenditure review meetings
LCC Foundation Grant Award Process:
•
Complete any required paperwork
• Coordinate ongoing information exchange and funder
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
If Grant Isn’t Awarded:
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
If Grant Isn’t Awarded:
• Thank the funder for considering your proposal

Ask for feedback on why project wasn’t funded

Use as an opportunity to build a stronger
connection with the funder

Never become argumentative!

Send federal program officer a thank you email

Contact your legislator, if appropriate
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
The Challenges of Moving Forward:
•
Need to hire new staff for the project
•
Need to replace project staff who leave
•
Project partner withdraws
•
Unforeseen organizational problems
•
Delay starting project
•
Project isn’t working as anticipated
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
When a Good Grant Goes Wrong
It happens –

Call the funder sooner rather than later about
any major deviations from the project

Seek funder approval if you need to change
any aspect of how you spend the grant funds

Don’t wait until the end of the project to
reveal a problem – in a worst case scenario,
you may have to repay all or part of the
funds
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
What Happens If You Don’t Spend All the
$$?
•
Some funders will extend
the funding period
•
Sometimes you will
lose unspent funds and
weaken your relationship
with the funder
•
Regular grant finance meetings can help
avoid this scenario
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Preparing Grant Reports

Track project implementation and outcomes

In some grants, tracking and reporting continue
after the grant funds end

Know who will be preparing and submitting
reports

Follow funder’s requirements, formats, and
deadlines

Work with Grant Finance and Center for Data
Science as needed

Send ERD a copy of your reports
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Dr. Samuel Johnson, to an aspiring writer:
Your manuscript is both good and original; but
the part that is good is not original, and the
part that is original is not good.
Using the skills you’ve learned in these
grant workshops can help your grant
writing be both good and original—and
secure funds for your important work!
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Time to work on your own grant
project idea!
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Contact ERD and the LCC Foundation:
ERD
Jeanne Donado, Grant Development Coordinator
ext. 1307
Vivian Keeney, Grant System Coordinator
ext. 1581
LCC Foundation
Dan McKean, Executive Director, ext. 1987
Peggy Hellwig, Scholarship and Operations
Coordinator, ext. 1989
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!